Updates!!!!

So it's been a while since I've posted anything specific to living in Japan, but Russell and I have been trying to save any extra money we have for our trip coming up this weekend to Tokyo Disneyland Resort!!!!  Yep, that's right, we are heading up about 400 miles to the big city of Tokyo to explore one of the best Disneyland's on this earth. We are very excited however, this means saving every extra penny.

Secondly,  I am so incredibly proud to announce the brand new, hard working, deserving, amazing First Class Petty Officer Groves!!!!! Congrats HM1!!! I love you!!!! I guess it's time for me to start learning how to sew because I've got a lot of patches to change out on all his uniforms!!!

Russell is Home For the HOlidays!

That's right everyone, I got my Christmas gift early this year! Here are some of the awesome photos that we captured during this joyous day.

Sherkan & Bagheera

It's official! The Cats have made it to Japan! Thank you so much to my wonderful Mother in Law that did so much to get those big kitties on that plane. I couldn't ever thank her enough. After long drives and talks with people that you can only understand every other word from, Sherkan and Bagheera are officially happy in their new home :) Here are some photos from our trip!

Imagine my suprise....

When I walk into a Japanese store and see these boxes!!!

Russell's time off...

Swim Call I was on the boat for 4 hours while right on
the equator where the sun is the most powerful, any guesses what
happened...  Nothing. I wore my sunscreen :)

Christmas in Japan!

They do believe! They do!!!!
On November 19th they had their Christmas lighting Ceremony and showed many lights! However, it was POURING rain out so I plan on going some other time when Russell gets back. SOON!

 

Oh Christmas Tree!

So here it is everyone! Our Christmas tree that I have successfully picked out, carried home, and put into our home all before Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving? One might ask, why are you getting your tree before then? Well... The answer is very simple. I live in a foreign country that does not carry Christmas trees in every Wal-Mart parking lot. The NEX or Navy Exchange for those of you not on military terms, has got their shipment of trees early this year. I asked if they would be getting anymore in so I wouldn't have to rush around and make sure I got one this early. There answer was simple. No. This is all of them. Ahhhh!!!!! But how will they survive until December 25th? They do know that they have to be green and amazing smelling until then, right? So any tips on how how to keep this thing green and bright would be very nice! I knew the hours were counting before they were all gone and thus the reason for.... A Christmas Tree Before Thanksgiving!

Anyways, from left to right starting at the top:
November 19th-What??? Are those Christmas trees hiding under those tarps??? Drive by picture!

November 20th 11am-Hmmm... I have about, oh... say.... 50 trees to choose from.

Lets try this one! I have the Japanese guys open 3. First one was too tall to fit in my Japanese car. I had to do this all myself and I really didn't think I could handle the car roof. Second one just didn't smell as good and wonderful as the first. Third one...

This is it! The third one we opened. It seemed as if I was making these guys work rather hard opening these trees, but I knew within a few days every single one would have made their way open. I don't think these guys had a clue what was going to happen! I made the guy take a photo with the tree I had picked out!

They put the stand on it. I had never seen a stand like this one and didn't want to figure it out by myself. I could just picture me trying to screw the thing in while keeping it steady. Oh goodness!

I decided I needed at least one photo of me while at the tree "lot."

It fits! ya!

Seeing a 4ft tree in a Japanese car really is a sight to giggle at.

Now it was time to get this thing out and into the house!

Ya! I did it! Sap covered hands and all! I have decided to not open it up again until after Thanksgiving and have it officially be the Christmas season!!!!

Osaka Middle School

So one of the times I was at Huis Ten Bosch coaching English to a Japanese Middle School from Osaka, they had their photographer go around and take photos. We just got sent the link and I just happen to be in two of the pictures!!!! Can you find me???


http://www.assumption.ed.jp/jsh/news/20111108161053.html

Pretty cool!

First Flag Football Game!

The game was sooooooo MUCH fun! I was one of the first people there and the coach just kind of put me in center and so we ran a few plays before the game. Then during the game, they liked me in that spot and kept me there the ENTIRE GAME! It was so awesome! Well not the entire time, but every single time offense was up, I was in. It was so amazing! I had so much fun and it was such a rush! I did very good every time I hiked the ball. Then within the first 20 mins I would say, it was a time out. The Coach came out and said, okay, new play. This play is called tight. Everyone line up on the line except the quarterback. Center hike the ball and then everyone runs right, except, the center (THAT'S ME!) Quarter back, then throws the ball to the CENTER!!!! ahhh@!! That's a lot of pressure! So we did and she threw it a little bit too short. Either that or I did not run up to it fast enough. Anyways. The ball hit the tip of my fingers and I went falling to the ground! Darn! I missed it :( Shucks!

So faster forward to the last minute and a half left in the game. The score is still 0-0. Offense is called out onto the field. We were about the 5 or maybe 10 yard line on the opposite side of the field that we needed a touch down for. Now remember, this is most of us girls first game of football. But we were ready, all huddle up and ready to set up a new play. Then the ref comes over to our huddle and asks if we want to go into over time. He tries to explain to us how to kneel on one knee once we hike the ball and then it will make it go into over time. We decide to do this. Then we are getting ready to do it again so we can run the clock and our coach calls time out. He says... Why are you doing that? What happened? We tell him that we have a LONG way to go and that we should go into over time so we will have more time to get down the field. Our coach disagrees with us and says NO... YOu are here to play hard. Don't just let it go into over time. Run a play and get it down the field! Don't stop trying! So we huddle again and decide a play. And sure enough... Ready! Set! Hike! Pass and a pass and a RUN! One of our players runs past all the defenders and rest of our team runs behind her and she scores a touch down with less then 30 seconds on the clock! Main Base Pink Panthers win the game! We cheer and high five and do little dances! Haha... It was such a rush and I loved every single minute of it!

I am number 26!

                                            The photo was a little washed out, but still cool!

New friends!

The other night I went out with some of my new friends. We stopped to take a photo on the Albuquerque bridge. We pretty much walk across this bridge every time we want to go into downtown Sasebo and the Ginza. This time we took a photo.

A few nights after this photo was taken we decided to have a grilled cheese and tea party. Don't even ask how we came up with those two things to go together, but it worked! It was my first time making Japanese tea at home. I am definitely getting myself one of these teapots and some yummy tea! It was Delicious!

Japanese Biker...

My friend Tabby and I were driving home and thought this guy looked tough and not like any other motorcyclist we've seen here. He had a mustache, leather jacket and cool goggles on.

Trying new things!!!

One of my new friends just came into town this past week and first thing we took her to a sushi go round. She was very daring and wanted to try the fish eggs. The rest of us girls were shocked that she would even touch it! She ate the entire thing and then we all decided to try just one little fish egg thing off the top. It wasn't too bad actually. The flavor was mostly neutral and just gave a big pop when you bit down on it. I was most definitely impressed with myself for trying even one little one.

Another new thing that has happened this week is that I got glasses!!!!! I was bored one day and decided to stop in and get my eyes checked. They weren't busy and took me right away, so I figured why not! Turns out I have astigmatism and should be wearing my glasses almost all the time to make things not look so blurry. After checking out the tiny selection on base, I went out in town and picked out myself a much cheaper and what I would think, "cuter" pair of glasses. Here they are!

Cupcakes!

I was bored the other night and decided to break out the fondant and work up a little welcome home gift for my friend Laura. She was only gone a few weeks, but I it was a perfect excuse to have fun and get a little creative. I even made  the inside of the cupcakes look with 3 different colors to make them even more interesting!

Oyster Festival...

The Oyster Festival here was a lot of fun! It is such a cool feeling to take the freshest oysters and put them on this tiny little brick fire and bbq them until they open up. Once they do you drip a few drops of lemon and then eat them up with your chopsticks. They taste so good and if you can get passed the looks of  it, then they don't even taste fishy at all. Oishi! (Delicious in Japanese) A very cool experience that I hope to do several times while here in Sasebo. I really hope Russell will be able to do this at some point as well because this is something he would absolutely love.

We also got these giant scallops! Amazing!

Another festival in the Ginza

This was the festival where there were over a 100 ladies dressed up in matching Kimonos and did a dance down the ginza walk way. After the dancing ladies, there was a ton of school kids carrying these little temple statues. I believe they were raising money for something and were shouting very loudly and it seemed even more loud because of the high ceilings.

Russell's Past 24 Hours

I had watch starting at 1000 PM that night. All day was pretty quiet, I
went to go get changed at 9:30 into the uniform for the watch I was
about to go stand. I was just about to leave to head downstairs when
over the 1MC (that is the ships announcement system) I hear DING DING
DING DING DING DING DING medical emergency. We rush the unconscious
patient up to medical. We ask a witness what happened, "she got hot in
the head by the crane hook" we're told. Luckily she was wearing a hard
hat, otherwise she might not have been alive, those hooks weigh a couple
hundred pounds. We have her in a cervical collar and we need to take
X-rays to rule out any injuries to her neck and spine. Now I am not an
X-ray tech, nor did we have one on duty that night. I have done some
X-rays before, but it's been a loooong time. "I'll do it" I told the
doctor, not a lot of confidence in my voice. Turns out the pictures came
out okay. Good enough to see that she had, in fact, fractured one of her
vertebrae. Well we can't really take care of her anymore at this point
so we have to MEDVAC her right away to a hospital.
Now I have to go downstairs for my watch that I'm late for at the entry
control point. Basically I am down there to watch people coming back
aboard the ship that is either injured or to drunk to take care of them
selves and make sure I get them to medical. After everything that has
already happened I am hoping for a quiet rest of the night. Wrong again.
At about midnight I get a pretty bad one. I have sent quite a few to
medical at this point, put quick bandages on a couple people who have
been fighting, that sort of thing. We get a call about a guy who can't
even walk. They unload him from a cab and he reeks of booze. He is so
drunk I am concerned he won't be able to maintain a good airway, so I
throw a nasal airway in. He briefly regains consciousness during this
little procedure. We transport him back up to medical with no more
problems. All is fairly calm for the next couple hours.
Now it is about 1:30 AM I have 30 more minutes of watch then I am home
free to go try get some sleep. The bus for my tour leaves at 6 in the
morning. If I get off watch on time I'll get about 3 hours of sleep.
Wrong again. We get a phone call about someone in the water in an inland
water way a couple miles away. I am drug into a vehicle with the Senior
chief that is in charge of all of us on watch. He is not a Corpsman but
he is worried about the person drowning, as am I. We make it to the
location, luckily I brought my flashlight, but I am the only one who
thought to do this. We see someone in the water about 30 feet from shore
and start calling to him. Telling him to come to shore, asking him of he
is alright. Telling him we are from the ship and we want to help him. He
immediately starts swimming AWAY from shore. This kid is actually trying
To run from us and all we want to do is see if he is okay. I keep my
light on him until he is so far away that even the in the light we can't
make him out anymore. We see that there it a small harbor with some
sailboats on the other side of the of the waterway in the direction he
is swimming. But it is about 3/4ths of a mile away from us. I tell
senior he needs to make some phone calls to get a boat in the water
before this turns into a body recovery mission. We get into the car and
drive around to the other harbor and begin searching again. We see him.
He is climbing into a little rubber boat, the small kind that aren't
made for going very fast. We call out to him and he pushes the boat away
from the dock. He is about 10 feet out. I now where you think this story
is going. Did I jump in after him. Did I pull my self up into the little
boat and get it back to the dock and everything turned out okay. No.
After a couple minutes of him struggling to start the motor, the whole
time we are calling to him, telling him to come back to the dock, he
gets it started. Cranks it up and opens the throttle all the way and
points the bow to open water. Where he is going to I don't even know.
Like I said earlier, we already called for a boat to help us out. Guess
who arrives just in time? Harbor Patrol. They of course have a nice big
boat. That doesn't stop this kid from trying to outrun them. So after
witnessing Grand Theft Boat (or maybe it is just considered pirating
when you are on the water) I am now witness to a high(ish) speed boat
chase. This is quickly turning into a watch to remember. So obviously
the guy gets caught. Wait for it...here is the shocker...he is a Marine.
Ok probably not that big if a shock. So after spending the next hour at
the Police Station he is released. They can't find the owner of the boat
he stole, so no one is pressing charges yet. He may get to make a trip
back out here though in the near future. I get back to the ship at about
3:30 in the morning. Make it to "bed" by 4 and am awake by 5 to get
ready for the tour. I didn't really enjoy the Mall of Asia that much. I
was too tired, all of the stores are about the same as the ones in the
states so it didn't seem like anything that special.


After I got this email about 30 minutes ago, I got a call from Russell. While I was on the phone with him, he told me to hold on for a minute. I waited for him to come back to the phone and heard a little bit of talking in the background, but I couldn't make out what was being said. When Russell came back over the phone he told me that the Senior Chief he was with over the night came into the office and gave him a military coin. These really mean a lot to get and even more so when you get one for doing an act of duty like the one he did the night before. GOOD JOB Russell!!! We are so proud of you!!!!!!

My Neighborhood

This is off the main road to get to my house. You can see what my neighborhood looks like :)

Yosokai Festival

Last weekend was the Yosokai festival here in Sasebo. It's one of the biggest festivals that they have all year and it's where dance teams come from all over the country and perform on 17 different stages throughout the city. One of the "stages" is down the middle of our outdoor mall called the Ginza. Behind each of the dance teams are men waving giant flags that represent their team. Here are a few more photos.

I found these mini candy apples at a stand and just had to try one! 300Y for one and it was well worth it! I loved that it was so small because it was way easier to eat!

My favorite food!

Probably one of the food that I get the most excited about when I see it on a menu is Gnocchi. When I went into my favorite Italian restaurant here in Sasebo and found this on the special of the day menu. I was ecstatic!!! It didn't taste exactly how it does in the states, but it was homemade and had a yummy garlicky tomato sauce.

And this is my cool bottle of Ginger Ale. You can get ginger ale anywhere in Japan. It would be the equal of sprite back in the states.

Try it, you'll like it...

My parents always told me growing up... "Tryyyy it, you'llll likkkkke itt." The extra letters in there are so you can try and sound like they did when telling us. This even more so and almost always applied to trying new foods. So, here are two new things I have tried these past few days.

What do these look like to you? Well, I went along with the photo and took it as purple sweet potato chips.

Ya! I was right! I tried it and sure enough, it was a chip. It was more tough and harder to bite then the normal American chip. However, very tasty...

This next item is something my Japanese Phrases class teacher or "sensi" as they call it, gave me. Each class she brings a Japanese tasty treat for everyone to try. I guess their popular "fall" flavor is hazelnut. This was a hazelnut bean paste cake. Pretty darn yummy. Most of the sweets here are made with bean paste. I know what everyone is thinking. What? Beans? They're not sweet. You hate beans Kristi. This was my first thought as well. But then, I tried it. Guess what? I liked it! Honestly, it tastes nothing like beans, but hey, what do I know? I've never really eaten beans all that much to know the "flavor" or taste.

Inside. No, that is not chocolate on top. Although, I think that would have tasted wonderfully!